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Welcome to my blog. I am honored to have you visit. I hope you'll find my articles a blessing. I welcome your input and especially comments and questions.

I write as a Christian from Jerusalem, Israel about Biblical subjects.

I am particularly interested in the subjects of children, families, women's issues, corporal punishment, science and nature as these subjects relate to the Holy Scriptures.

For more information, see my website: www.biblechild.com

With every good wish - Samuel Martin

Monday, June 25, 2012

It's Elmer Season

It’s Elmer Season

This will probably be
the first of several posts talking about Elmer. In this case, we are not
talking about Elmer Fudd, though he is a familiar character to us Americans,
so, sorry Elmer, but on this blog I am opening Elmer Season as of now.

Elmer is in fact a
real person and he believes 100% in spanking children.

I first learned of Elmer about 10 years ago.

Professor Randall
Heskett, a former lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament at the Toronto School of
Theology published a paper in Interpretation Journal in the April 2001 issue –
pages 181 – 184 – titled simply: “Proverbs 23;13,14.” You can sign up for
Interpretation Journal and read this excellent article at the following link:

This article was for
me in my work on the issue of corporal punishment one of the very first
glimpses from a scholarly point of view of someone who was a serious Bible
scholar, who was speaking out specifically against the teachings of the
Christian establishment.

His views were quite similar in some ways to my own
(and I am pleased today that I still remain in close touch with Dr. Heskett).
His article was so important for me about 10 years ago and I’ve mentioned it in
my book.

However, Dr. Heskett
in his article pointed to a Christian couple, who were actual people he knew
(and still knows) who, he did not choose to identify by name, but he called
this couple Elmer and Connie.

Now, let me say that I do not mean any disrespect
to anyone out there named Elmer or Connie, but I hope you’ll appreciate where I
am going with all of this.

Dr. Heskett, in his
article, says the following about Elmer and Connie.

“For years individuals
have appealed to the biblical book of Proverbs as a warrant for spanking their
children. They often say, “The Bible says, ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child.’
Yet they are unaware that this specific adage does not appear in the Bible. A
couple whom I will call ‘Elmer and Connie’ live by what I call a pre-critical
or sub-modern understanding of scripture. Elmer, although he has a Ph.D. in
education and serves as minister of education in a church, cites the true
biblical proverbs as his warrant for spanking: ‘Do not withhold discipline from
your son: if you beat him with a rod, he will not die’ (Proverbs 23:13). Elmer
and Connie take this passage at face value. Using a half inch thick dowel that
is three feet long, they ‘spank’ their children quite severely. In their desire
to follow ‘the word of God,’ they ‘beat’ their children to prove their love to
them according to their reading of another proverb: “He that spareth his rod
hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes’ (Proverbs 23:14
KJV) [Note: The King James Version of the Bible is Elmer's Bible. Full stop.]

When one of their children disobeys them, the make the child
lie face down on their bed with hands spread out wide. They then proceed to
strike the child three to ten times (depending on the seriousness of the
offense) with their rod of correction. After they punish the child, the ask,
‘Have you had enough?’ Then the parents make the youngster ‘pray to Jesus and ask
him for forgiveness.’ Elmer and Connie apparently to do see repentance as a
matter of the heart that beating cannot bring about.” (pg. 181)

So this was my introduction to Elmer. After being introduced to Elmer, I began to see that there are literally millions of Elmer's out there today. And what does Elmer believe? As Prof. Heskett said:

"‘Elmer and Connie’ live by what I call a pre-critical
or sub-modern understanding of scripture. Elmer, although he has a Ph.D. in
education and serves as minister of education in a church, cites the true
biblical proverbs as his warrant for spanking: ‘Do not withhold discipline from
your son: if you beat him with a rod, he will not die’ (Proverbs 23:13). Elmer
and Connie take this passage at face value." (ibid.)

I’d like to say one
thing though right at the outset. Dr. Heskett rightly referred both to Elmer
and Connie, but I am going to focus on this post on Elmer. This is because
often in the world where Elmer operates, he is in total 100% control and in
supervision of Connie. This idea is so well known in our generally
fundamentalist churches where men are in charge and women are subservient and
unequal to men.

Michael Pearl, in true Elmer style, says it like this:

"I am the General. My wife is my aid and adviser
[clearly his military adviser] - the first in command when I am absent.”
(Pg. 68-69) To Train Up a Child – No Greater Joy Ministries – 1994 edition.

1 comment:

"After they punish the child, the ask, ‘Have you had enough?’ Then the parents make the youngster ‘pray to Jesus and ask him for forgiveness.’

This is what I don't understand about a view such as theirs. Why not simply lead the child in a repentant prayer instead of hitting him/her first? Why "make them pay" with pain? Is the forgiveness and regeneration offered by Jesus, in whose name they are praying, not enough? Why is it enough for adults, and not for children? Children are capable of learning and remembering without pain.

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About Me

Samuel Martin was born in England and is the youngest child of Dr. Ernest L. and Helen R. Martin, who are both Americans. He lived in the UK for the first 7 years of his life before moving to the USA with his family at age 7. He lived in the USA until 2001 when he married a native Israeli and relocated to live in Jerusalem. He and his wife, Sonia, have 2 daughters.
His experience with biblical scholarship began at an early age. His father initiated a program in conjunction with Hebrew Univ. and Prof. Benjamin Mazar, where over a 5 year period, some 450 college students came to work on an archaeological excavation in Jerusalem starting in 1969. Since that first trip, Samuel has visited Israel on 14 different occasions living more than 5 years of his life in the country. He has toured all areas of Israel as well as worked in several archaeological excavations.
Today, he has begun his academic career publishing 2 books dealing with biblical issues.
I write regularly on biblical subjects with a particular interest in children, families, nature, science and the Bible,and gender in the Biblical context.